I realize I might have said that a little too loud when an older woman turns and scrutinizes me, her eyebrows lifting. She’s dressed in a floral caftan and rolling a cherry red suitcase behind her.
I wince. “My apologies, ma’am.”
But the corner of her mouth turns up. “She sounds like a lucky girl.” She winks and moves past us.
I’m so stunned I almost laugh. But I can’t because damn right Caro was a lucky girl. We all were lucky. Lucky to have found each other, lucky to have shared the time together we had, lucky to have fallen in love.
I shift on my heels again, restless. What are we doing? Why are we just letting this all end with a mere fucking whisper? It doesn’t feel right.
“Grayson’s flight has landed,” Cas says, staring at his phone screen again. “I wonder how Evelyn handled flying commercial.”
That makes me laugh, in spite of my general feelings of discontent about the way our foursome shook out.
“She’s a baby. I don’t think she’s bougie just yet.”
Grayson had cut his trip to New York short and could only secure a commercial flight in economy class, which is not something he’s used to. At all. I have a feeling he’s going to step off that plane frazzled as fuck.
When he had called me yesterday to tell us he had decided to make Honeysuckle Harbor his permanent home, we’d been thrilled. For him and for Evelyn, who is going to reap all the benefits of small town life on the coast, with lots of family and friends around. I’m glad for us too—we value Grayson’s friendship, and I want Noah and Evelyn to grow up together.
I’m a little uncertain as to why he is jetting back so quickly after his decision, but he asked for a ride from the airport and said he needed to talk to us about something. I’m assuming he’s going to want to vacate the apartment next door to us and move into a house closer to his parents, with more work from home options for him.
We left Noah at my parents’ house so that Evelyn can ride in Noah’s car seat. One of us probably should have stayed home with Noah because it’s going to be a tight fit in the car, but we were both eager to help out Grayson. And okay, we were curious about what is actually going on in his head right now.
“I don’t know,” Cas says, wryly. “Evelyn is Grayson’s daughter, after all. She’s going to appreciate the finer things in life. I just hope she didn’t fuss too much.”
“He does have the nanny with him.”
“Then I shouldn’t be worried about Evelyn crying but Jane.”
Cas and I exchange a look. Jane the nanny cries a lot. We’ve both witnessed it and it makes me feel bad for her. Cas thinks the nanny is overreacting.
True to form, Jane is wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt as she comes down the escalator, sniffling and repeatedly lifting the strap of her overnight bag onto her shoulder. Grayson is behind her, holding Evelyn. Father and daughter are both scowling.
“That looks about right,” Cas murmurs.
“I bet a sign would have cheered her up,” I tell him.
Cas laughs and puts his arm around my waist. “You’re probably right. Next time I’ll just leave you to your poster board and markers.”
“Thank you.” I wave to the trio and Evelyn’s scowl melts into a smile. She bounces up and down on Grayson’s hip, practically launching herself out of his arms in my direction. “Hey guys!” I say, holding my hands out for Evie.
“Please, take her.” Grayson does indeed look frazzled as fuck. His hair is sticking up, and he has dark circles under his eyes like he hasn’t been sleeping in New York. His T-shirt has a food stain on the shoulder. “My daughter would not take a nap today. She’s reached some level of slap happy delirium where all she wants to do is shriek at random intervals and then laugh at herself. Oh, and throw her pacifier at the other passengers. And smear food on me.”
I cuddle Evelyn to my chest and kiss the top of her head. “Sounds about right for her age. Jane, you okay?”
The nanny nods, still sniffling.
Grayson shakes his head behind her. He actually looks sympathetic, reaching out and squeezing Jane’s shoulder. “Some woman on the plane yelled at Jane for changing Evelyn’s diaper. But come on, it’s not like she could change it in the bathroom. Those are insanely small.”
“Ouch,” I say. “People don’t even try to be understanding, do they?”
Jane shakes her head. “She waited until Grayson took the dirty diaper down to the flight attendant too to complain. She knew she could yell at me and make me feel bad, but she wasn’t bold enough to do it with him there.”
“That’s terrible.” Cas leans over and tickles Evelyn’s belly, making faces at her.
“Do you need anything?” Grayson asks Jane. “A water? We can get you an ice cream on the way to your house.”
“If it’s okay, I’m just going to get an Uber,” she says. “I’m tired.”
